Heads up…. Brendan Power and Zombor Kovacs are now offering a 30 reed diatonic harmonica that uses reedplates from the world's most famous harmonica. They call it the MB 30. It has 30 reeds, 20 valves and allows you to create two reed bends blow or draw in any hole on the harmonica.
The twenty valves work to isolate pairs of reeds that are tuned for bending. It feels and sounds like a normal blues harmonica but lets you play all the missing notes with traditional bending technique, including tongue blocking.
Richard Sleigh has joined with Brendan and Zombor to test and fine tune the instrument. He tried out a prototype of the MB 30 at the SPAH convention in August and was invited by Brendan and Zombor to join the project. He will be taking care of shipping orders in the USA and also providing customer service for orders in the USA. He will also be building a top of the line model - the MB 30-S.
For more on this developing story, you can check out these links:
I totally see how those can run near $400. This is my "dream" harp, though. The xreed stuff is great and the Marine Band version is magnificent!
I am going to have to get a hold of a few of these. Granted, the cost is more than a custom, but I'd love to see them take off. ---------- Mike My Website
Last Edited by HarpNinja on Dec 23, 2013 6:14 PM
Zombor and I have been working intensively on 30 reed harps for over a year now, using SUB30 reedplates as the platform. We've pushed their performance to the limit with extreme embossing and innovative parts (our OverValve Plate and the Z1 Comb). But the MB30 blows them all away! It's such a pleasure to have 18 easy bends and THAT classic harmonica sound :-)
There is so much work in making this harp, and developing it was an incredibly tough challenge. But the results justify all that effort. It really proves how good the 30 reed design can be.
Prices range from $360 to $440 in dollar terms.
It's an honour to have Marine Band guru Richard Sleigh partnering with us on this new harp :-)
As I posted in the comments section of this video, Brendan sounds great no matter what harmonica he plays (I put it a little differently)! Nevertheless, this is progress, and I am glad these guys are making the best 30 reed diatonic they can. You don't need all the notes all the time, but knowing how hard it can be to get them can cause you to leave the tough ones out--this harmonica obviously enables you to confidently execute all your ideas. Bravo!
Last Edited by Gnarly on Dec 24, 2013 9:21 AM
On reading this, I have to say I'm rather excited. Lets be honest, all this customising and modding really all comes down to one simple thing. We all want a blues harp that we can play 'all' the notes on.
I've really negelected my playing of late due to personal reasons, but occasionally have a little play. My pocket harp is a Spiers MB in C. My X Reed harp is a SUB 30 with a Blue X Brass comb. On reading this, I whipped the SUB 30 out and gave it a little blast. It plays pretty perfectly, but it isn't an Marine Band tonally. There's something dirty and sexy and raspy and lovely about an MB. Its like Stradavarius. I can't describe it.
I think this is such a brilliant idea.
Although I must say, Brendan. Don't expect an order any time soon. I'm skint due to Crimbo, but rest assured I am salivating over this.
To you three, Brendan Power, Zombor Kovaks, and Richard Sliegh, congratulations! I'm happy for you, for having achieved this. What you have done is remarkable, and truly impressive.
Brandon, I guess I should edit what I posted in the OB thread. After listening to the playing in this video a couple of times, while thinking about what pitches I would need to overbend to copy what I hear, I am impressed. I hear a lot of color and richness in all the notes on this harmonica. The vibrato on the low end blow bends sounds great. This is a great choice for a blues player that wants those missing notes. Very cool harmonica. Very bluesy indeed!
Thanks Harpdude and others. It is truly a fun harp to play. I never play Richter tuning normally (invariably PowerBender) but of course play Richter in the X-Reed demo videos because that's what the overwhelming number of players use.
I have to rethink everything and recall barely-remembered Richter breathing patterns, so I don't play as freely as I can with PowerBender. But the interesting thing is that the new x-reed configuration really levels the playing field again and makes Richter much more sexy all through the range.
I devised PowerBender and other personal tunings to get more useful expression through the whole harp, especially for 2nd Position & related keys. But the MB30 gives you that same expression in Richter tuning now!
Though I'm sticking with PowerBender & my other tunings, the advent of the x-reed configuration means there is far less incentive now to switch tunings. It may actually have the effect of entrenching Richter even more in its dominant position.
However the good thing about the MB30 is that it's easier to offer it in PowerBender, PowerDraw and other regular-breath tunings than the SUB30, so we will get around to that in a few months.
Last Edited by Brendan Power on Dec 25, 2013 11:02 AM
Aha........I find more and more my SBS is my 'go to ' harp......and reckon an x-reed version would be the answer to my dreams!!! Ho hum......you've got me anyway...I'll just have to get one anyway and wait for your future models. Maybe then I could....'trade up'? ---------- Old Man Rubes at Reverbnation Dads in Space at Reverbnation Benny and Rubes at Reverbnation
I was playing my MB30 in the last couple of days and bumped into the problem in a few tunes that I could not go low enough. It is possible to make a harp with an extra low octave, but that needs some work. As Brendan said we may get back to it later. However, there is an extra blowbend on hole 1 which can take you a bit lower and in a number of cases that helps a lot! I am already using it and its great to have it!
Do you guys think there is any chance of offering these harmonicas in G or lower? Perhaps there isn't enough space in each chamber, particularly the low ones, for the extra reed.
@blingty: Yes, we do intend to offer G and lower keys.
Space is not affected by lower-pitched reeds as they are the same length, but of course it's very difficult to bend the low reeds below hole 1 on a G harp. However the higher notes will be very sweet.
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Thanks for the positive vibes on what we're doing, everybody! What you see and hear in the MB30 is the culmination of LOTS of hours, weeks and months spent brainstorming, testing, tweaking, testing and testing again, on and on, in the workshop, at computers, CNC machines and traditional hand tools.
It's pioneering work; consequently there have been plenty of blind alleys and tear-your-hair-out days!
We both hope our efforts will lead to x-reed harps that are far more affordable in future. That's when we'll really see the exciting playing developments: when reliable good-sounding x-reed harps become commonplace, so anyone can have a go and start exploring the new sonic potential within them.
Zombor and I (recently joined by Richard Sleigh on the MB30) are working through the issues and inventing ways to overcome them, so you can just put these harps to your lips and PLAY! To paraphrase TS Eliot, in this small field we're acting as "the antennae of the race".
But not just us; Will Scarlett was the first to have the 30 reed vision, and Rick Epping was the first to get a commercial x-reed harp out in the Hohner XB-40 - a brilliant design that will see a comeback, I'm sure.
I believe there's going to be an explosion of new harmonica types and sounds in the next 10 years. We live in exciting times!
Last Edited by Brendan Power on Dec 27, 2013 2:20 PM
@Stevelegh: The elegance of the design is that it does not require any added parts like OverValve Plates - all the functionality is included in the comb and reedplates.
@AW: The MB30 is definitely our best, but if you want an affordable introduction to the 30 reed harp the SUB30 with just our embossing option will give you a nice-playing instrument.
As it says on the video, all the harps you hear there (played by me and Richard) are normal bog standard Richter.
The bends are exactly the same as on the SUB30. It has the standard 8 bends available on any harp, plus these 10 extra bends (related to a C harp):
Blow 1 - C bends to B Blow 2 - E bends to Eb Blow 3 - G bends to F# Blow 4 - C bends to B Blow 5 - E bends to Eb Blow 6 - G bends to F# Draw 7 - B bends to Bb Draw 8 - D bends to Db Draw 9 - F bends to E Draw 10 - A bends to Ab
That is the stock configuration as heard on the video. However:
1. The basic tuning can be changed to anything you like (so far we only offer Country, Melody Maker & Paddy Richter)
2. In Richter or any other tuning, the extra bends can be configured differently by lowering the pitch of the x-reeds.
For instance, you could have full-tone or tone-and-a-half (or even more) bends at any place you choose with the ten extra bends.
It's very flexible, and some customers have opted for unusual bends on our custom SUB30s (eg. Marko Balland, who likes deeper full-tone bends on all the x-reeds).
However, most players will like it in the stock Richter tuning and set-up, because it is simply the familiar harp they know plus has all the missing notes as simple semitone bends.
I know it's barely been a week since the MB30 release but I'm saving my pennies so I gotta know if a "Special 30" with recessed reed plates is in the offing? Does this add significantly to the comb's complexity?
By the way, was a less than ideal/flat comb part of the SUB30 shortcomings? I taped off the lowest three x-reeds on my two SUBs and did my regular setup but they're still less responsive than the SP20s I work on.
Suzuki's fit and finish is generally great but the super thin chamber divisions don't allow for much surface area contact with the reed plates. I'm guessing any comb imperfection becomes a bigger issue under those circumstances. Also, you can't flatsand the reedplate.
I have had pretty good results improving the SUB30 for customers who felt they weren't getting their money's worth (I do the warranty work for Suzuki). However, I always try to get folks to go to Brendan (and Zombor, and now Richard Sleigh!) for the best possible product. Brendan does real good work.
We made a Limited Edition of fifty MB30 harps in 2013. Subsequently all of us got busy with other stuff and life changes, you know the story... No more were made, despite many requests.
The history and current status of X-Reed.com is here: http://x-reed.com/archive/home.php
I still firmly believe in the future of x-reed harmonicas in general, and last year released the latest iteration, the all-draw all-bending AsiaBend. I'm looking forward to releasing the X-Reed UniBender very soon, which is a 40-reed blow-draw all bending harp made using two 10-hole diatonics. You can see/hear it in the last part of this video:
